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Grassroots awards: David Richardson of Palace Park Football Club at Bellahouston Park (Image: Willie Vass/Sunday Mail)

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THEY were born in the heart of Govan, a football club intent on serving its community with pride, unity and respect.

Unlike their more famous neighbours, though, Palace Park are one of Scottish football’s feelgood stories of 2014!

And it’s their chairman and coach David Richardson’s dedication to the cause which deservedly sees him kicking off our annual quest to find Scottish football’s unsung heroes through the McDonald’s/Sunday Mail Grassroots Awards.

Along with the SFA, we’re now into our 11th year of unearthing the game’s great volunteers.

And the 37-year-old gas networks manager has been an inspiration, taking a club which only formed back in August with eight kids and turning it into a thriving hotbed of football for more 200 children, under the watchful eye of 23 volunteer coaches, in under 10 months.

His drive and enthusiasm earned him a nomination from his club and Richardson admitted: “We’re proud of what we’ve achieved –but we have so much more to do for our community.

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“It was my brother John who started the club but I joined up after three weeks with my boy Jack.

“Now I chair a 10-man committee and coach the 2004s as well as the 2006s. Pride, Unity, Respect – that’s our motto. We believe in positive coaching and positive parenting.

“We’re not interested in a kid’s ability – we’re here to help give them football skills but a big part of what we want to do is give them life skills. That’s what football taught me as a youngster – it gave me values

“Govan can be a rough area at times but hopefully we’re providing something that the community can be proud of.”

Richardson is a firm backer of Positive Coaching Scotland, an ethos dedicated to providing an inspiring and encouraging environment for kids.

And he insists he’s not afraid to take on any pushy parents more attached to old-school ways.

He said: “The parents have been fantastic. But we have a code of conduct for them and I’m not scared to challenge them when it comes to sticking to it.

“We want our kids to enjoy the game, we don’t want them feeling anxious or pressured.

“We must be doing something right. We now have teams at every age group from 2004s to 2010s, we have an amateur side and our over-35s have just played their first game as well.

“The next step is trying to find a permanent facility. We’re working hard to raise funds.”

So who’s the unsung football hero in your area? We need you to let us know who deserves recognition.

We’ll highlight the best stories over the next two months before a panel of judges decide who will be rewarded at a Gala Dinner at Hampden in September.

And it gets better – Scotland legend Kenny Dalglish and national manager Gordon Strachan will be handing over the awards.

We want the best volunteers in: Youth Football (primary age to 18), Adult (juveniles, amateur, welfare), Girls’/Women’s, Disabled and Schools Football.

We’ll also select three of our top volunteers for the People’s Awards and give you the chance to vote for our overall Merit Award winner.

Anyone outside the junior or pro ranks qualifies.

Nominate at www.scottishfa.co.uk/awards or on the Daily Record and Sunday Mail website. You can also email grassrootsawards@trinitymirror.com

You can also watch our exclusive interview with George Milliken, one of the coaches at the Giffnock Soccer Centre which was named the Scottish FA's Best Community Club in 2013, in the player above.